Bulldogs can be competitive: Jackson

Canterbury skipper Josh Jackson is adamant the Bulldogs can return to the NRL finals as early as next year and has bristled at the suggestion they'll have to go through a painful rebuild.

Sitting in 15th with just three wins, the Bulldogs' plight worsened this week after Aaron Woods joined Moses Mbye in a mid-season exodus and marquee playmaker Kieran Foran was ruled out for the year due to foot surgery.

After being hammered by the Gold Coast before the representative round break, external expectations for the Bulldogs are low with the side admitting that the club's salary cap woes had finally wrought a toll.

Club chair Lynne Anderson had previously said it would take until 2021 to unravel their salary cap mess - brought on by heavily back-ended contracts signed off on by the previous administration.

It remains to be seen if the exit of Woods to Cronulla and Mbye to the Wests Tigers will allow them to be active in the player market anytime soon.

However Jackson said they could be competitive for the rest of this year and in 2019.

"We're definitely not talking about rebuilding here," Jackson said.

"We're competing. We want to be competing every week and we want to be in the finals.

"This year? Will it happen - it's unlikely that it will. But certainly next year we're looking at competing and being right up there come September."

Lachlan Lewis - the nephew of Queensland great Wally Lewis - comes into the side for Saturday's clash with Newcastle to replace Foran.

Woods' exit from Belmore was swift - on Tuesday morning he was with the Bulldogs squad at a pool recovery session before receiving a phone call to say his transfer had gone through and by the afternoon he was in the Shire meeting his new teammates.

With the Bulldogs facing the unpalatable prospect of the club's fifth wooden spoon in their history, Jackson said the playing squad couldn't use their salary cap dramas as an excuse.

"The salary cap has got nothing to do with the players," Jackson said.

"That's for the management to sort out. As players, our sole job is to come into training, train to the best of our ability and try and win games."